WWE SummerSlam 2013: John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan Will Be the Match of the Year

Don’t be too surprised if Daniel Bryan and John Cena churn out the WWE match of the year at this month’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.

A bold prediction? Maybe. But all indications are the two will have a great bout when they finally face off.

For one thing, Bryan has arguably never been better as a wrestler than he is right now.

The former ROH star has been wrestling up a storm on television and pay-per-view recently. He was always great, of course, but his recent push seems to have made him motivated him to up his game even more.

Bryan is on the best run of his career, and it’s a spectacular thing to watch.

His match on the July 23 Raw with Antonio Cesaro was a fabulous encounter that thrilled fans and journalists alike. (Daily Wrestling News even claimed the bout, impressively, got both guys a standing ovation backstage.) Will there be a better TV match this year? Highly unlikely.

Bryan's recent scraps with Randy Orton have also been terrific and helped make the time on the often tiresome three-hour Raw’s pass far more enjoyably.

At SummerSlam, Bryan will also be aided by an opponent who will have his working boots on.

Cena has thrived as a wrestler in 2013. The frequent chants towards him of “You Can’t Wrestle” from the crowd are as laughable as they are irrelevant. Heck, he even managed to drag a decent match out of an aging and past-his-prime Rock at WrestleMania.

His work with the clunky and one-dimensional Ryback earlier this year was also first-class. This was mainly thanks to willingness to work around the behemoth’s flaws and bump like crazy for him.

Just think: If Cena can produce good work with such limited opponents to work with, how great will it be when he takes on the best wrestler in the world in Los Angeles on August 18?

Of course, one possibility is that the two will not get enough time to produce the classic they surely can.

WWE’s second biggest show of the year, SummerSlam is usually packed with matches—and celebrity cameos—meaning some guys can get short changed on time. It’s also possible that, due to Lesnar’s immense star power, WWE will prioritize the CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar bout and give them all the time they need.It may even go on last.

Ideally, though, WWE will realize Lesnar and CM Punk aren’t really cut out for a 20 or 30 minute match and give the extra time to Cena and Bryan, thus allowing Bryan to churn out the best match of the year and cement his main event status in WWE.